


Round & Round

by xxELF21xx



Series: The Countdown [4]
Category: Helix Waltz (Video Game)
Genre: Ambiguous/Open Ending, Breaking the Fourth Wall, Gen, Introspection
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-13
Updated: 2019-04-13
Packaged: 2020-01-12 13:26:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 492
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18447485
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xxELF21xx/pseuds/xxELF21xx
Summary: And there, the children run! Round, and round, the merry-go-round!





	Round & Round

**Author's Note:**

> i have no explanation for this

_Little children, borne from snow._

Theoretically speaking, he's been playing an elaborate game of cat and mouse the very moment he's met her. She's Finsel's brightest, the polished diamond. Shining is what she does best, in any situation, in  _every_ situation. He thinks of the first time he's met her, but.... things get fuzzy? There are a hundred different ways he remembers it, and in each instance, she wears a different outfit; and sometimes, Magda Ellenstein isn't her name. But that can't be true, right? Everyone calls her so,  _Lady Ellenstein_ this,  _Magda_ that. She's Magda, and he's......

_Little children, growing old._

He sees something different in her when they meet at balls. Oftentimes, she walks towards him with a purpose, a certain urgency in her steps and in every twirl of a dance. Sometimes, even her words are biting. When they bump into each other, occasionally, she'd get annoyed, brushing him away with a curtsey and a frown. It sends him mixed signals, because when  _he_ approaches  _her,_ it's different! She becomes the Magda everyone talks about, kind and patient, graceful in every way. 

_Little children, learning to play._

A rather nostalgic song sticks itself into his head, watching her rise up and attend every ball without fail. He sees her at a luncheon, dressed all the way to the moon, shoes flat and socks high; then, he sees her at a midnight ball, with too much of one colour and poor Biggus running after her. He swears, that he sees her flee a ball once before, face red from shame, but she somehow manages to be in the centre of this whole show the very next moment. And this song that he hears, in the nooks and crannies of the slums, from the mouths of little nobles, it reminds him of Magda Ellenstein.

_Little children, getting to their feet!_

Every moment he spends with her is a moment he can never be prepared for. His heart stammers rapidly, palms sweaty and a whirlpool of emotions eating him up from the inside. Does love always feel so devastating? Something compels him, from deep within, to reach out and ask her for a future together; but he's always pushed back by an unnatural force and interference from others. Magda Ellenstein doesn't see this as more than an odd friendship, and that's what hurts the most. 

_And there, the little children run!_

He's sure that she is not that much different from Loire. But when she is met with someone else other than him, her attitude changes completely. Her answers are askew and her speaking style becomes in sync with who she's dealing with. She grows close to everyone else, and suddenly -- everyone's version of  _"Magda Ellenstein"_ is different from his very own. But regardless, she treats him like her own, as confusing as that might sound. Alan sees nothing but the Magda Ellenstein in front of him.

_Round, and round, the merry-go-round!_


End file.
